


Ricochet

by dustywings



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-05
Updated: 2017-05-05
Packaged: 2018-10-28 10:01:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10828986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dustywings/pseuds/dustywings
Summary: The Chief of Police endures a fatal knife wound. Fortunately, a faithful ally is there to save her. Yet again. [Toph/Suki]





	Ricochet

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Ponderess](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ponderess/gifts).



> For the sake of everything, Suki and Sokka are _not_ together in this story.
> 
> This is for my friend, ponderess, who requested a Toph/Suki oneshot with the theme "touching". I _had_ to give it a shot, and these two were wonderful to write about!
> 
> I hope you enjoy.

On several occasions, the Kyoshi Warriors have made an unexpected visit to Republic City. **This** particular occasion is no exception. Unless it be in the Earth Kingdom’s interest, the Kyoshi Warriors keep themselves out of international affairs. However, from time to time, their services are needed. 

It wasn’t the Chief of Police who requested their help. Unfortunately, it never is. The Chief of Police is not just stubborn, but a very **difficult** woman. In other words, she doesn’t care much for any other military force aside from her own. Usually, if not always, one of her officers might send out the call.

A band of thugs have made an escape, after looting a few banks. There’s so much money to carry, some of them are actually slowed down by the weight, and they don’t manage to end up very far. The Chief of Police, alongside a couple of officers, continue their pursuit while those ordered to stay behind handle the already caught thugs. 

It shouldn’t be too long of an errand. This is what Toph would call “easy money”, and certainly not a mission which demands the Chief to be involved. 

As she predicted, they manage to corner the remaining thugs. She blocks their escape, creating a wall of earth. One of the thugs panics, and makes a pathetic attempt to run past the officers. This doesn’t bode well. Toph barely flicks her wrist. A slate of earth shoots up from the ground, slamming him down. 

Just as she’s about to finish off those who remain, a blade zips past her ear. One thug is swiped, a cut to the cheek. Toph lets out an irritated groan. The other doesn’t stand a chance. A Kyoshi Warrior passes by so quickly, it’s like a **flash**. He’s knocked down cold. Four more are left, five pouches of money still stolen.

Toph isn’t fast enough to get to them. They discover another route, and dash off.

‘You fairies in dresses really **do** have a talent of getting in my way,’ Toph growls. One Kyoshi Warrior has stopped before her, and Toph recognises her immediately. Knowing somebody for nearly six years, it’s not hard to recognise their footstep pattern, the sound of their voice, and, even, the rhythm of their heartbeat.

There’s a smile in her voice when Suki replies, ‘Actually, the men you’re following– **we** have also had problems with them before. It only seemed plausible that we help you put their nasty antics to an end.’

‘Yes,’ Toph sneers. ‘But I **don’t** need your help.’ To be fair, though, Suki could be of use. She’s much more agile than Toph, plus she has a few tricks up her sleeve which Toph might depend on later. She turns her head slightly, addressing her officers. ‘Return to headquarters. Suki and I shall go ahead.’

‘Aye, Chief.’ 

Suki nods towards her Kyoshi Warriors, implying the same order. 

‘I imagine you know where they’ve gone,’ she says to Toph, although she’s all too aware herself.

Toph smiles crookedly, walking past her. ‘Of course. They’re so heavy on their feet, I can hear them from miles away.’

**::**

Rather hopelessly, the remaining thugs hide in an abandoned building. Either they’ve forgotten the Chief of Police can use her Seismic Force in order to detect them, or they’re simply brainless. Perhaps both. Toph discovers they’re on the third floor, in a large room down the hall. 

She’s right. Neither have to guard themselves before entering. Suki sweeps into the room, and immediately manages to chi-block two of them. 

They wail out, and ridiculously try to lunge for her. Suki grins, actually enjoying herself, and knocks them out effortlessly. 

Meanwhile, Toph busies herself with the last three. The bags of money are dropped and they dart straight for the Chief. This is just **too easy**. Toph could do this while **sleeping**. She slides her foot forwards slightly, and the ground raises, tripping over one of them. He lands heavily, smacking his jaw to the ground. 

As if it’s nothing, Toph manipulates the wall to collapse onto the last two. But just as it reaches them, one pulls out something sharp and metallic, before throwing it at her. 

The wall collapses. The thugs are crushed beneath, unconscious.

Toph hears it first, but the sound is so usual: as if the air is being sliced.

Then she feels it. Her armour is denser than it appears, and the knife stabs through her skin. Toph exclaims, mostly in fright as she’s not too sure what’s just happened. She searches for the knife, and she touches the handle sticking out of her ribs. Taking a step back, she foolishly tries to pull it out–

‘Don’t!’ Suki’s hands are on hers, and she gently ushers Toph back into the wall. ‘You could bleed to death. **Don’t** pull the knife out.’ 

The pain doesn’t hit at first. Until, all of a sudden, it comes in a huge wave. Toph hasn’t felt anything like this before, and she realises just how deep the knife has gone. She tries to search for her wound, and she can feel the blood. 

Lots of blood.

‘Shit.’

Suki manages to get Toph to sit down. Then, without asking, she starts to take apart Toph’s uniform–

‘What are you **doing**?’

‘I need to stop the bleeding, otherwise you’ll die. Don’t panic: otherwise you’ll make this much worse.’

Die? That’s a bit excessive, Toph thinks.

If she’s honest, though, she is starting to feel relatively faint.

Which only annoys her. She doesn’t want Suki to be right, after all. 

Toph places a hand on her shoulder. ‘Get me up. I need to return to HQ and–’

‘No. You’re staying put. I can do this.’ Suki snatches Toph’s hand, squeezing it. ‘I’ve treated knife wounds before. Including on myself.’

‘Woopie for you, princess, but I’m just wasting time here–’

Suki places a hand over Toph’s mouth. ‘Stop talking.’ She rolls her eyes. ‘You’re worse than Sokka.’ Toph doesn’t know whether to take that as an insult or not. She slumps her shoulders, deciding to give Suki the benefit of the doubt. Inhaling sharply, Toph tenses when Suki fiddles slightly with the blade.

Fuck, it stings. 

‘Do you mind?’ Suki asks softly.

Toph frowns. ‘Mind what?’

‘I need to unbutton your blouse.’

‘Oh.’ 

Toph begins to do what Suki requested, but Suki intervenes. Her hands pass Toph’s, and the buttons become undone. Suki is careful. She doesn’t want to offend the Chief, and appear inappropriate, but she also has to view the wound properly. The chill air catches Toph’s bear skin and she shudders.

It’s weird, feeling vulnerable.

She hears the slice of another blade. ‘What are you doing **now**?’

‘I can’t get to the knife. Your blouse is in the way. I’m going to have to cut the fabric so I can reach the wound.’

‘ **What**?!’

‘Don’t worry. I’ll be careful.’

‘Just…’ Toph stops. She turns her head away. ‘I can’t see what you’re doing, so just… take it easy, yeah?’

Suki smiles, and she wishes Toph could see her face. See that she has full confidence in what she is doing. That Toph has nothing to worry about. That, yes, of **course** she remembers Toph can’t see. And that’s all right. It’ll be okay.

‘Hey,’ she whispers. ‘This isn’t the first time I’m saving your life. You trusted me the last two times.’

True. The first time, Suki had saved Toph from drowning, which followed a rather embarrassing moment where Toph believed her saviour was in fact Sokka. The second time was during the war against Fire Lord Ozai. Suki saved the life of not just Toph, but Sokka as well. 

She hasn’t forgotten. Toph exhales. ‘Right.’ She grimaces when Suki takes a hold of the knife, and pulls it out. Suki does this so smoothly, so calmly. Immediately, she drops the knife and attends to the wound. 

‘You haven’t hit an artery,’ she murmurs under her breath. ‘I’m amazed: the wound is actually cleaner than I thought. Don’t move–’ She touches Toph a little above her chest. ‘Stay still a little while longer.’ And Toph says nothing, listening to the sound of Suki retrieving something from her pockets. 

‘Don’t tell me: you carry medical stuff around with you.’

‘It’s not **just** stuff, Toph,’ she teases. ‘Anyway: yes, I do. Somebody has to.’

‘Hm.’ 

‘You feeling okay?’

Not really. The lightheadedness has got worse, and Toph can’t ignore the pace of Suki’s heartbeat. It has started to increase. Either she’s panicking, or something else is the matter. Toph swallows. ‘Yeah.’ When Suki addresses the knife wound, she cleans it with something warm, and there’s a long moment while she does this. ‘Where are you up to?’

‘The bleeding has calmed down, thankfully. I need to sew the wound to avoid infection.’

‘Got a needle?’

‘I can handle this, Chief.’

Suki’s heart skips a beat.

‘What’s the matter with you?’

Her heart skips again. Suki sounds affronted: ‘Nothing.’

Toph twitches a smile. ‘Whatever, princess.’ She hisses between her teeth when something sharp pierces her flesh. It doesn’t take long for Toph to become accustomed to the pain. Suki manages to close the wound, not only ceasing the bleeding, but ridding any threat of infection altogether. ‘This is not how I expected my day to go.’

‘Do you fill in the silences because you want to, or because you feel that awkward around me?’

‘Eh?’ Toph snorts. It occurs to her that Suki is **playing**. It makes her smile. ‘You wish.’

‘There. All done.’

‘Finally.’

‘Wait, one second.’

‘Seriously?’

‘Let me bandage the wound.’

By this point, Toph isn’t aware of much else, except for Suki. The steady pace of her breathing, in and out, over and over. How her fingertips dance across her skin. How she talks, so softly and calmly. Sometimes, she talks so quietly, Toph has to really focus on her voice. 

And then there’s her heart, which betrays everything. 

Because Suki’s heart is the very opposite of calm. Maybe it is out of fear. Even though Toph won’t admit to it, the two are friends, and Toph would be equally as worried if Suki were the one injured. But this isn’t the kind of worry, say, somebody like Aang would express. This kind of worry is a lot more–

Intimate. 

Suki **has** to save her.

It has to be **Suki** , and nobody else. The way it’s always been.

‘I’m sorry about your blouse.’ Suki starts to button it up. ‘You’ll be okay now, though.’

Toph reaches out. 

And touches her.

She touches the bridge of her nose, her fingers passing the fall to her lips. Toph can feel the paint, and yet it’s surprisingly soft. Feathery. Then, her hands follow up her cheek, and her skin is smooth and warm. Then, to her ears, much smaller than Toph imagined, and across her jawline. 

Then her neck, her collarbone–

Suki exhales shakily. ‘Toph?’

‘Sorry.’ Toph doesn’t recognise her own voice. ‘Being blind–and I mean **blind** blind–I like to just **touch**. It’s my last way of seeing.’ **The only way for me to feel safe**. Toph retreats her hand, and she’s genuinely concerned she might have stepped over the line here. There’s a long silence, and it’s… warm. 

Quiet.

Just themselves. For a moment. 

‘Thank you,’ Toph’s voice shatters it all. Suki sighs. She stands, aware of the fact she’s trembling, and allows Toph to shove on her uniform. 

The Kyoshi Warrior nearly forgot about the thugs they were trying to capture. Walking over to them, she’s pleased to discover they’re still unconscious and won’t be waking up anytime soon. 

‘We should send these **delights** to where they belong. Want to help me do that?’

Suki smiles.

‘I’d be honoured.’

Toph smiles too.

**::**

When the day is out, the reports filed, the thugs arrested and thrown behind bars, Toph closes her office door. She removes her outer uniform, and then begins to unbutton her blouse. The bandage is soon felt beneath her fingers, and she tries to feel the wound. Suki has done a good job sewing it together.

Maybe she should be relieved Suki was there with her. 

She sighs, closing her blouse. 

Well. **Grateful** is the more appropriate word.

Suki knocks on her door, and Toph knows she’s only come to say good bye. The Kyoshi Warrior steps in without waiting for a response. She closes the door behind her, pressing her back to it. ‘How are you?’

‘That’s a third,’ Toph says, not turning to face her. 

‘Third…?’ Suki furrows her brows. 

‘The third time you’ve saved my life. I think I owe you.’

‘Oh.’ Suki laughs. She’s nervous. She’s happy. She’s **touched**. ‘Don’t be silly. It’s what I do.’

Toph allows that.

She turns then. ‘I trust you won’t be returning anytime soon.’

‘Unless there’s an emergency, no,’ Suki assures. 

‘Good.’

‘I came to say good bye.’

‘I know.’

‘Right. Well… good bye.’

‘Bye.’

Initially, Suki is upset. 

After all of that, Toph might as well blatantly ignore her. 

But that’s the thing with Toph. There isn’t anybody **special** , nobody comes first, and Suki can save her life a thousand times, but the farewell with always be the same. Just another good bye. Just another friend arriving and leaving.

It’s all the same.

Yet, Toph touched her as if she were **art**.

A map she desperately had to become familiar with. All the curves, and wonders of her face–Toph **needed** to know. She created an image of Suki beneath her fingertips, and it’s **that** –

It’s **that** which makes Suki special.

The goodbyes **are** meaningless. What happens before the goodbye is what counts.

So, Suki walks over to the Chief of Police, and she can **see** Toph stiffen. She can see this small, uncertain little girl peering through, confused with whatever the Kyoshi Warrior plans on doing next.

But neither are little girls anymore. A lot has changed since then.

Suki places a hand on where she nursed Toph’s wound. ‘Get better soon,’ she whispers, before kissing the corner of her mouth.

An eyebrow raises. Toph blinks. ‘Okay.’

Suki hovers there for a moment, and Toph doesn’t make any motion to push her away. She **lets** Suki stay with her, lets her think, lets her decide whether to kiss her again. Whether this is the right time, or if it’s completely irrelevant. 

Her lips brush over hers. For a second. A **second**.

Then, swiftly, Suki swivels round on her heel and approaches the door. Neither say anything, and Toph listens out for the door; as it swings open, pauses, and then closes after Suki. 

She can still hear her–Suki’s footsteps down the hall, her heartbeat still like **thunder** in her ears, and the sound of her disappearing, vanishing, gone.

Toph smirks.

The next time, she might well pay a visit to the Earth Kingdom herself.


End file.
